Photo: Jiang Xiaohan

 
In the new era of globalization and the digital revolution, leadership is recognized as an increasingly important quality for the world's teenagers. People from different backgrounds hold different opinions towards the issue. From my point of view, leadership is essentially a social process of influencing others. A leader has the ability to make people work hard for a common vision. I'd like to explain my opinions of leadership from the following aspects, the first of which is how to become a team leader. The second is what to do when you become a leader.

For the first question, we can interpret it as how to gain the trust of a team. Trust is the foundation of leadership, because leaders can't force others; they can only rely on followers' conscious choice and recognition. Winning teammates' trust requires four premises, the first of which is ambition. Throughout history, all great leaders are the people who have ambitions and show them firmly. Such ambitions gave them the motivation to lead the team. Second, professional qualifications create authority, and strength is the most powerful language. Only when people make sure that the leader has enough experience and ability to lead the team, can they follow his lead. It was by virtue of outstanding economic knowledge that Charlie Munger cooperated with Warren Buffet and won the support of the public. Third, leaders need to be honest. As Anand Reddy, a senior engineering manager at Intel, explains, "a lack of honesty undermines teamwork and trust, and reduces team cohesion. Moreover, no one wants to follow a dishonest leader."Besides, leaders need to be able to express themselves well, which can make others understand and follow them. Not only is it an important way to spread ideas, but it can also improve their influence in the team effectively. Roosevelt became President during the American economic crisis. Without his impassioned speech at the inauguration, he couldn't have given people enough confidence to overcome difficulties and make Americans follow him firmly. To sum up, if someone can mobilize strengths from those four aspects, he must have a better chance to become a leader.

To become a leader is the first step, followed by how to achieve the team's common vision, or in other words, how to serve the team better. This requires leaders to have a strong sense of responsibility and dedication. They need to serve the masses and take the fundamental interest of the team as the starting point for all their actions. Mao Zedong pointed out: "the responsibility of a leader, in conclusion, is mainly to give advice and use cadres." Specifically, "give advice" can be understood as a critical and forward-looking approach to view problems. For one thing, it means to anticipate the hidden dangers ahead in the changing age, so as to prevent them from occurring. For the other, it means to reflect on, summarize and improve past successes and failures timely, so as to better build the team. It was by summing up and reflecting on the experience of the early period of China that Deng Xiaoping made the correct choice of "reform and opening up" and led the Chinese people to a new era."Using cadres" first means assigning different people to different positions properly, thus to make the team operate more efficiently. The second is to keep an open mind in the face of others' voices. After all, the best leaders are the best listeners.

Leadership is a strong power that exists at all levels of society. With the development of digital revolution and globalization, the era we live in is increasingly unpredictable and competitive. Great leadership is a powerful force for change. Personally, leadership makes people more energetic, active and challenging. As for teams, the leaders should bravely deal with the chaos, overcome the uncertainty and move forward to the ideal future with perseverance.

As outstanding teenagers in the new era, we should boldly imagine a better future while carrying out every task, bravely take the responsibility of leadership, and make contributions to the community of shared future for mankind.